Artistic practices on the service of the counter-hegemony: the case of contemporary Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky

Abstract

The writing and completion of this thesis would not have been possible without support of my supervisors Dr. Andreas Ventsel and Katarina Damčević. I want to express my gratitude which is beyond any words for the eternal patience of Andreas and Katarina. I also want to thank the University of Tartu for giving a chance for pursuing master degree in the program of the European Union and Russian studies. A special thanking word I want to dedicate to my mother Yekaterina who has been supporting me all the way through the period of my studies, to my friends Dinara Pisareva who inspired me to apply for European Union and Russian studies program, Dinara, Aizhan, Yoko, Daniil, Ainur, Caio and Ariel for their encouragement, to my beloved colleagues Valeria, Alesi, Hilda, Dainis, Bryan, and to my family Andrey, Ol'ga, Talgat, Alexander, Ruslan and Lena for their love and kind words. I want to thank my dearest partners and closest friends Oleg Ivanov and Nikita Naumov for being so supportive in multiple ways.